Journeys
by Stellar Eclipse
Summary: A series of 100-word drabbles, mostly unrelated, centering around Leon and Cloud during various stages of their lives. Part four of six up.
1. Chapter 1

_Journeys is a series of 100-word drabbles (or mini-moments, if you will), completely random and unrelated except for every tenth one (the last of each chapter). There should be six chapters, and a couple of these contain mature themes, mentions of sex, violence, etc., but nothing explicit. I'm enjoying this project immensely, and hope you do, too._

_(Also, I now have Twitter and plan to use it for fandom-related things, itty-bitty sneak peaks of fics I'm working on, OTP!NaNo flailings, things that don't warrant a full LJ post, etc. Nickname is stellareclipse—feel free to follow me if you're interested!)_

_Disclaimer: dood, _fan_fiction. Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, and the characters and universes therein are the property of Disney and Square Enix. I receive no remuneration for this work; it is a parody and as such utilizes the Fair Use clause of the Copyright Act._

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Part 1

* * *

**Star**

"You see that one?" Squall asked, pointing to a quickly fading streak in the sky.

Cloud hummed faintly, eyes continuing to follow the empty path the vanished star would have taken. He'd made a wish, Squall knew. He didn't believe in superstitions, himself, but he earnestly hoped his friend would get whatever it was he'd wished for.

"Not going to wait," Cloud murmured suddenly, and before the other teenager could ask what he meant, Cloud cupped his cheek with a chilly hand and leaned in to kiss him.

That night was the last time Squall saw him for nine years.

* * *

**Echo**

Leon drew Cloud back against his chest, shifting the waist-deep water of the Coliseum's otherwise empty public bath around them with soft splashes. He slowly moved his hands up the blond warrior's bare sides to his ribs, pressing tender kisses below the golden hair at his nape, along the tense slope of his shoulder, and finally the warmer, more sensitive skin just above the base of the dark, trembling wing.

"_All_ of you," he whispered again. The words, however softly spoken, echoed in the vast expanse of the hall, and Leon could only hope that they'd sink in this time.

* * *

**Couple**

It was strange to think he was in a real relationship now—part of a couple, a team, a pairing that was a far cry from platonic nowadays. It wasn't even a secret anymore, what with living with a know-it-all wizard and a ninja that sometimes really _was_ as sneaky as she claimed to be. He stood up to the initial teasing better than his partner did: Cloud tended to get defensive, but he usually ended up disappearing before things got too confrontational, whereas Leon had learned to brush it off like he did everything else, with a curt "Whatever."

* * *

**Teammates**

There were four of them in the semi-final match: a swordsman with a massive two-handed blade that he wielded with amazing skill; a spry ninja with enormous shuriken and speed he'd not seen before on someone without Haste cast; a martial artist with skills to rival those of the friend he'd lost back on his own world (plus a _lot_ more class); and himself. Formidable warriors, all. And yet, they lost. To a _boy_. A scrawny boy with an odd, oversized _key_ for a weapon. It was a humbling experience, and Leon was reminded to never again underestimate Sora's capabilities.

* * *

**Time**

He'd been so accustomed to living alone, eating alone, sleeping alone, _being_ alone—but all of that had changed, over time. Now he couldn't imagine waking up without seeing spikes of golden hair catching the early morning light on the pillow next to his own (because that was all of Cloud that he _could_ ever see in the morning, what with the man's habit of burrowing almost completely under the covers, even in summer). He used to consider relying on someone else a weakness, a liability—but having Cloud in his life had honestly made him a stronger, better person.

* * *

**Red**

Cloud strapped the band of leather high around Leon's upper arm, winching it in tightly to stem the flow of blood staining white cotton and tan skin red. The thinner straps Leon wore on his forearm would never have sufficed, and he couldn't get any of the brunet's confounded belts off so he'd ended up using his own.

Once the tourniquet was in place, he looked back up into blue-gray eyes that continued to bear the pain silently, then knotted his fingers into Leon's dark hair, tugged him in so their foreheads touched, and sighed. "Dodge next time, will you?"

* * *

**Touch**

Leon gasped sharply when Cloud scratched his fingernails down his back, likely leaving bright red welts from the burning pain he felt in their wake. He wasn't normally such a masochist, but in the height of passion he found himself growling in Cloud's ear—_more_—and the demand bled into a throaty moan when his lover obliged, raking his nails again, harder, along the ten aching lines drawn into his skin. In a way, they felt like marks of ownership; judging by the hot rush of breath in his ear, he wasn't the only one turned on by that thought.

* * *

**Seconds**

Cloud lets out a short huff of a laugh, but it's enough of a hint for Leon to realize his mistake. He twists around and parries the swordsman's attack just in time, but it still leaves him compromised, with a wall to his back, another to his right, and a focused, deadly warrior guarding all possible escape routes. The glint in those sharp blue-green eyes leaves no doubt that Cloud has done it intentionally, and he has only seconds to formulate a plan before the next attack comes in a blur of golden hair, torn red cloth and shining steel.

* * *

**Triangle**

The three of them were back to back to back, defending against the teeming Heartless that surrounded them in seemingly endless waves. Cloud was on his left, silent and alert with his sword steady in both hands, and Tifa was on his right, bouncing lightly on her feet with her gloved fists raised and at the ready. Later, when the last pink, glowing heart had ascended to the heavens and they were all breathing hard with the thrill of battle and exchanging small, shy grins of triumph, Leon would realize that he'd never before worked with a more compatible team.

* * *

**Kids**

"You don't have any friends, do you?" Cloud asked, then sighed and sat down beside Squall without further preamble because he already knew the answer. "I'll be your friend, then."

Squall pushed his hands further into his pockets, frowning a little. "Why?"

The young blond shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. "You don't want to?"

"...Didn't say that," Squall mumbled softly, almost timidly.

Satisfied, Cloud nodded. "Okay. Here, you can have Fenrir," he said brightly, digging in his pocket to hand the other boy a small toy motorcycle. "But only for a while, okay? I want him back."


	2. Chapter 2

_Journeys is a series of 100-word drabbles (or mini-moments, if you will), completely random and unrelated except for every tenth one (the last of each chapter). A couple of these contain mature themes, mentions of sex, violence, etc., but nothing explicit._

_Disclaimer: dood, _fan_fiction. Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, and the characters and universes therein are the property of Disney and Square Enix. I receive no remuneration for this work; it is a parody and as such utilizes the Fair Use clause of the Copyright Act._

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Part 2

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**Weeks**

It took six weeks for Leon to heal after an unfortunate incident involving his arm, a wall, and the turning radius of a twelve-foot steel I-beam. And Yuffie. One way or another, misfortunes that befell Leon always seemed to involve his stealthy little ninja shadow. He couldn't get rid of her afterwards, either, because she continued to stalk him, full of apologies and well-meaning offers to help with projects he couldn't manage on his own. His only solace came when Cloud happened by and bodily removed the girl from his presence, requiring her "help" with one complicated task or another.

* * *

**Grow**

Cloud found Leon crouched over a small sapling that he was trying to plant, one of a handful that Aerith had previously been tending to and had asked him to find homes for once they grew big enough. He observed quietly for a moment, then asked with all honesty if Leon really thought they would survive the harsh landscape. With a shrug, the brunet finished patting down the crumbling blue soil around the delicate, knotted roots, then murmured a carefully focused Water spell, turning the soil into softer clay and mud. There was really only one way to find out.

* * *

**Lovers**

Even in the darkness he could see the tension in Cloud's shoulders, feel the muscles working beneath the smooth planes of his back, feel the steel and heat of Cloud moving inside him, feel the warm breaths in his ear, and he couldn't help but be in awe. Everything about the man was beautiful, and not just physically—it was the passion in those intense blue eyes, the quiet way he moved, the effortless way he fought, the soft way he spoke, what he did and didn't say... Absolutely everything about him, inside and out, was completely captivating to Leon.

* * *

**Evade**

Leon didn't realize at first that Tifa's constant search for Cloud was only fruitless because the blond knew about it and evaded her on purpose. He didn't understand why, exactly, Cloud was avoiding her, but wasn't really sure it was his place to ask. He had to hand it to the woman, though—she was determined. Not only did she examine Ansem's study quite thoroughly according to Sora, she'd also taken to peering under rugs and behind bookshelves and inside the _teapot_ on the table in the center of Headquarters, making for a bewildered Cid and a much befuddled Merlin.

* * *

**Whatever**

He's up first, dressed and out the door before his new lover has begun to stir. Even as the chilly morning air hits him, he feels inexplicably warm inside, and it stays with him throughout the day.

When he finds Cloud waiting in the bailey at dusk, he can't just cast a sidelong glance as he passes by—not this time. Right out in the open, with only fading light and crumbling stone to hide them from view, he pins the blond against the wall and kisses him deeply.

"Hmm," Cloud murmurs slowly, wryly against his lips. "Miss me?"

"...Whatever."

* * *

**Sickness**

He'd never really outgrown his motion sickness, much to his chagrin. It was no small comfort, having someone there to soothe him when he was feeling like he'd rather be stabbed repeatedly (again) by his arch-nemesis or be given to Cerberus as a play toy or any number of unpleasant things that would have been such an improvement on the way he was feeling right now. He didn't know what made Leon put up with him, especially through all this, but the brunet took it all in stride, supporting him and rubbing softly at his back until the nausea subsided.

* * *

**Anger**

The next moment, Leon has him pinned up against the wall, lightning flashing in his eyes, and he forces Cloud's head back with a hand on his cheek and thumb under his chin, exposing his throat in a dominating gesture. Cloud glares right back with his lip curled in a snarl, and he grips Leon's throat in retaliation, high under his jaw—not enough to choke, but still a very clear warning. It's been like this a lot recently, and it's hurting them both, this struggle, this tension—but neither will back down. Neither can. They just don't know how.

* * *

**Dirt**

There was dirt on the knees of his pants, dirt on his hands, dirt all over his bare chest and in hand-shaped smears on his neck from his lover's rough, eager touch, dirt on his lover's cheek from where Leon had rested it against his sweaty back after they'd both climaxed, quick and violent and so deliciously perfect—there was dirt everywhere, in his boots and his hair and he couldn't even make himself give a damn.

There was something to be said, Cloud decided, for instigating hand-to-hand combat in isolated places on hot summer days. Something very, very good.

* * *

**Book**

Leon was stunned when Sora brought him the book. He didn't know how it had even made it to this world, but there it was in his hands, exactly the same as he remembered. It even had the same faded spots and the same crinkly back corner from when he'd dropped it into a puddle as a kid. He stared at the cover, completely stuck for something to say, but Sora saved him from having to try by grinning and patting him on the arm and telling him to take good care of it—he had friends in there, too.

* * *

**Circle**

"I'll bet it's for Tifa, huh? She likes you, you know," Cloud said secretively.

"No," Squall murmured, shaking his head and scraping his knife carefully along the inside of the small, circular object he'd been whittling down over the past week.

"Aw, c'mon, you can tell _me_." Cloud leaned in close enough to elbow him in the side, and crinkled his nose and huffed when the only response the older boy gave was to flush a little and continue his work. "Aerith, then? I think she..._you_ know..._likes you_ likes you."

Squall sighed softly. "No, Cloud. Not Aerith, either."


	3. Chapter 3

_I survived my first NaNo! Eighty-eight thousand words, baby. XD Now I need to make amends for neglecting these boys for so long..._

_Journeys is a series of 100-word drabbles (or mini-moments, if you will), completely random and unrelated except for every tenth one (the last of each chapter). A couple of these contain mature themes, mentions of sex, violence, etc., but nothing explicit._

_Part three._

_Disclaimer: dood, _fan_fiction. Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, and the characters and universes therein are the property of Disney and Square Enix. I receive no remuneration for this work; it is a parody and as such utilizes the Fair Use clause of the Copyright Act._

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Part 3

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**Haunted**

He sees her in his dreams. Her face haunts him, her uplifting voice haunts him, her playful touch haunts him, and it's only when dawn's about to break that his subconscious releases him and the pretty face and dark hair bleed into a vision of someone with blue eyes and blond spikes and calloused hands and all the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Every morning he wakes up to that arresting blue gaze, and every morning he breathes out to steady himself, but he's never quite able to confess the reason he can't tell Cloud he loves him.

* * *

**Chance**

Leon made his way through the halls towards Ansem's study at a slower pace than normal. It wasn't that he didn't have work to get done, but he had rather been hoping for another chance meeting with Strife. He knew the blond sometimes hid out nearby, so when he turned the last corner and found cold, deadly-sharp steel pressed against his throat, he wasn't entirely surprised.

"Leonhart," Cloud acknowledged, forcing Leon to lift his chin. "Surely you could have gone the other way and gotten there much faster..."

Leon smirked slowly, glancing over. "And if I meant to get lost?"

* * *

**Discreet**

Yuffie, sitting by the bookshelves and diligently polishing her shuriken, suddenly stopped what she was doing to raise both eyebrows at Aerith. The long-haired brunette stared back at her with wide green eyes, and as one they lifted their gazes to the ceiling in the direction the sound—low, wanton, _definitely_ male—had come from. After a long moment of continued silence, Aerith offered Yuffie a rather oblique smile and a dainty shrug, and a slow Cheshire grin crept over the ninja's face. For once, she remained completely silent. The blackmail would come, oh, yes. And it would be sweet.

* * *

**Invitation**

Leon glanced over to the corner of the bar again, and found himself captivated by the other's intense gaze, again. He caught himself quickly this time and abruptly looked away. He had no right to stare; the attraction he felt for the blond probably wasn't even reciprocated.

A few moments later, he heard solid footsteps approaching and looked to the corner only to find it empty.

"Crystal Fissure...if you're interested," Cloud murmured in passing.

It took Leon a full ten minutes to convince himself he hadn't heard wrong, and only ten seconds to down his drink and go after him.

* * *

**Mirror**

There were times he didn't really recognize his own reflection. Blond hair in familiar spikes, bright blue eyes and pale skin... He'd filled out a little more since his teenage years, but still, he looked...too _old_, somehow, far more than the years could account for, and somehow even more jaded than before. He reached out with a leather-covered hand, unclenching jointed metal fingers and pressing his palm against the dusty, broken mirror. Someone else's clothing and armor on his body, someone else's dark whispers in his mind, someone else's proud legacy in his soul... Was it really any wonder?

* * *

**Alone**

Cloud was gone. He had left without any real warning. He'd just said "I'm going," and then...well, he was gone. Leon hadn't realized just how much a part of his life Cloud had become until he wasn't a part of it at all.

As the weeks dragged on, Leon began to immerse himself more and more in the restoration, subconsciously trying to fill the void and not noticing the toll it was taking. The others tried to reach out to him, each in their own way, but it's not easy to save someone who isn't aware that they're drowning.

* * *

**Blind**

Leon closes his eyes. Behind the blindfold they're useless anyway.

He takes a breath. Holds it. Lets it out slowly, calmly. Relaxes, centers himself, light and sure on his feet. Settles his arms into place before him, Revolver steady in his grip. Listens for the slightest weight change, heel to ball of foot, on hard-packed soil. For the smallest rustle of cloth to give away direction, the twist of a leather glove on the hilt of a sword, the faint pull of his opponent's breath. Cloud's not going to make this easy on him.

He listens. He waits.

He attacks.

* * *

**Aftermath**

It's quiet now. All he can hear is the barest whisper of Leon's hot breath at his ear and the shift of their boots as Leon draws him back against his chest, curling one arm around him and holding on as if he'd die if he ever let go. And Cloud lets him hold on even though it's hard to breathe, and even grips his wrist in one hand, because he'll never admit it, not even to himself—but deep in his soul he's afraid of that. Of being let go. It's not a freedom he wants to experience again.

* * *

**Explore**

"Where are we going?"

Squall wasn't one for voicing his complaints, but they'd been hiking for miles and it was getting close to sunset. They really weren't supposed to be this far from town after dark, especially without a guardian, and the only weapon they had was Squall's pocket knife. Cid was going to chew them a new one when they got home.

"You'll see," Cloud said with a secretive smile. The cavern wasn't far away now, and once Squall saw what he wanted him to, he figured he'd probably be forgiven for dragging him all the way out here.

* * *

**Secret**

It hurt, abandoning his best friend and everyone he cared about, but he had to do it anyway. He had to find himself, had to answer the call of the darkness simmering deep inside, even if it meant betraying the trust of those that meant the most to him.

Squall was the last to see him, the only one who realized that he was leaving, and the lack of understanding in his quiet eyes hurt more than anything. Cloud wanted to reassure him, tell him he'd be back...but Squall knew him too well to have fallen for it, anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

_Oh my god, has it really been a year since I updated this? *fail* Well, again I have triumphed over NaNoWriMo, though not nearly so gloriously, and I think I've recovered now and should be able to post some new things soonish. I hope at least some of you are still with me!_

_Happy Birthday, Belle. *love*_

_Journeys is a series of 100-word drabbles (or mini-moments, if you will), completely random and unrelated except for every tenth one (the last of each chapter); this chapter's "Fate" and last chapter's "Haunted" are related to each other as well. A couple of these contain mature themes, mentions of sex, violence, etc., but nothing explicit._

_Part four._

_Disclaimer: dood, _fan_fiction. Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, and the characters and universes therein are the property of Disney and Square Enix. I receive no remuneration for this work; it is a parody and as such utilizes the Fair Use clause of the Copyright Act._

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Part 4

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**Fate**

He sees him in waking dreams. His face haunts him, his cheerful voice haunts him, their tangled fate haunts him, and it's only when dusk's about to break that his obsession shifts from black hair and a warm, sweet smile into blue eyes and brown hair and solemn grace and the weight of more than just this world on his shoulders.

Every morning he wakes up to that beautiful gaze, and every morning he tells himself he'd want him to move on, but he's never quite able to reveal the reason he's not free to give his broken heart away.

* * *

**Damaged**

Gone was the shy confidence, the bright smile, the innocence shining in those blue, blue eyes. No longer was Cloud the quiet boy Leon—_Squall_—had known, the best friend who always had his back and laughed and fought and grew up with him.

No, the man staring at him now was not his Cloud. This Cloud was broken, jaded, hardened by things he'd endured in the nine long years he'd been gone, things Leon couldn't even fathom.

But he was not the only one so affected by time. The sliver of sadness surfacing in Cloud's eyes was evidence enough.

* * *

**Darkness**

No matter how long Cloud stood under scalding water or how roughly he scrubbed at his skin, he was never free of the darkness. It clung to him, seeped through his pores from the inside, and it was all he could ever smell, all he could taste, all he _knew_. It subsided around certain people, mostly the ones he was bound to from his past, but their presence hurt him so much, physically and mentally, that he couldn't bear to be too near them. He was blinded—literally—by just how far he'd fallen, that they would be so pure.

* * *

**Control**

He doesn't know what Cloud is going to do next, and it's intimidating and thrilling all at once. He shifts against the restraints, blinking and then blinking again as if that would help him see through the fabric over his eyes. There's limits they both abide by, and that comforts him some, but he doesn't like to not be in control. He never has.

But this is a test of trust, and he does trust Cloud and Cloud needs to know that and believe in it wholeheartedly. If this is what it takes, then this is what he will do.

* * *

**Bond**

The long afternoon wears slowly into evening, the sun casting its heavy rays over two men locked in deadly combat. Sweat slides smoothly down exertion-warmed skin and makes worn leather stick to aching, tired hands, but they will not let the pattern of advance and retreat and the rhythmic clash of steel sway until the moonless pitch of darkness falls too far for them to see. Only then do they stop, yards from each other at first and then mere feet, weapons coming to rest and hands reaching out to clasp together in mutual understanding and gratitude.

"Tomorrow, then?"

"Tomorrow."

* * *

**Silver**

Cloud couldn't help the way his cheeks warmed when the girls discovered the silver ring on his left hand and promptly began to fawn over him. He lifted shyly proud eyes to seek Leon out from across the room, and was pleased to see the man's gaze soften in that rare, subtle way he had. With all the attention safely focused on Cloud, Leon took a moment to lift his ringed hand as well, the back of it facing Cloud, and he smiled, just a little. That sight alone was enough to make Cloud put up with the endless questions.

* * *

**Jealousy**

Looking at Leon now and seeing a light in those gunmetal eyes that he's never seen before, jealousy adds its bitter weight to the tightness in his chest. It's clear that there's a history there between them. The depth of it is made even more apparent when Irvine tips his hat off and reaches over to plant it right onto Leon's head, and Leon laughs. Leon _laughs_. It's a strong, rich sound, heartfelt and carefree like Cloud's never heard before, and all of a sudden, more than anything, Cloud wants to be the one to make Leon laugh like that.

* * *

**Mortal**

It's quiet in the house they built in Radiant Garden what seems like forever ago. The night's unseasonably warm, and there's no movement except the sigh of curtains and the path Cloud's palm follows from Leon's shoulder to his wrist and back again.

Finally Leon sighs too, softer than the curtains. On their next pass, he catches Cloud's fingers in his own.

"Let me go."

The words contradict the valiant way he tries to hold on. Cloud's mouth sets into a heartbroken line.

"I can't." They've had years to prepare, but time doesn't make the inevitable any easier. "I won't."

* * *

**Storm**

The wind thunders violently against the walls of their home, trembling into the very floorboards. More than once Cloud wonders if it has the strength to tear down the structure completely. He lays silently on his side, very much awake, wide-open eyes fixed on the window as if it might shatter at any moment.

"Not one for wind storms, are you?"

He starts, having thought Leon to be asleep despite the din outside. A warm, heavy hand comes to rest on his side in comfort and question; in response he only settles back a little further into his lover's arms.

* * *

**Feelings**

"Why?" Cloud demanded weakly, staring at the object in his palm and then staring at Leon. "Why me? Why couldn't it have been Aerith, or Tifa, or someone who deserves—"

"But you do, Cloud," Leon interrupted softly, solemnly. "And...it couldn't have been Aerith or Tifa or anybody else. It's always been you." He closed Cloud's gloved fingers around the small wooden ring, worn and smooth from all the years spent in one pocket or another, and then took a reluctant step back. "I'm not asking for anything in return. Just..." He sighed. "I just needed you to know."


End file.
